I am a self-proclaimed avacado-holic, cherished wife of Todd Snyder almost 23 years. Inside of Tiny Town, I’m the Chief Traffic Director and Hope Giver. “I dream it, he builds it and then I share it with the world!” We make a fantastic team! We build tiny homes and communities for families to thrive in for years to come. Our motto is, “Shrink your house, not your dreams”. We are blessed with three amazing kids: Elisabeth, 21, is studying nursing and getting married in June. Christianna, 20, is studying business and graphic design, living with family in Michigan. Andrew, 13, lives in the tiny house with us and when he’s not in school, he’s building tiny houses with his dad. Community info @ www.tinytowntexas.com.
My life mission is to dare people to believe the impossible is NOTHING with God! I’ve got some Big dreams I’ve been working on for twelve years. Watch them unfold in our blog.
My vision To be a part of a community of likeminded people working towards a common goal of creating and sustaining meaningful relationships that rock the world around you
Life motto He is my God; I trust Him
Favorite dreams quote “Your dreams should be so vivid that when you actually achieve them, you’ll feel as if you’ve already lived them.”
Favorite note “I can win with any hand I’m dealt” -God
Favorite songs I know my Redeemer Lives and Legacy
Life verse “To know Him and the power of His resurrection and to share in His sufferings, being made like Him” Phil. 3:14
My top values Leaving a legacy of Faith, Lots of intimacy with my husband, speaking life into my kids, spiritual and physical health, and friendships
Career Freedom – you no longer have to slave away at a job that you hate because you have high living costs.
Time Freedom – think of all the time you’ll save because you’ve downsized the space you have to clean, repair, and maintain.
Financial Freedom – stop stressing about your ever-growing pile of debt and live debt free. Own your home outright and stop spending your entire paycheck on housing expenses. Live tiny; live debt free.
SIMPLICITY
Maintenance – with such a small space, the maintenance work is quick and easy! No more stressing over big fixes!
Lifestyle – living tiny truly is a lifestyle, and it’s a very simple one. There are far less moving parts to worry about and things to take care of.
Minimalism – own less stuff and experience freedom from choice. Tiny living forces you to be a minimalist which allows you to experience less stress, anxiety, and more happiness.
ADVENTURE
Travel – with lower living costs comes more savings. Savings you can use to finally take that European adventure you’ve been dreaming of.
Pioneering a Movement – Tiny Living is still a relatively new idea and you could join the movement that’s spreading like wildfire across the nation.
New Experience – tiny living is a novelty and can be so exciting. Every day is a new adventure and you have the power to chart your new life path.
“Shari & Todd, Thank you for allowing me to live the tiny house dream for three days. You both were excellent hosts preparing for my arrival and seeing to it that this experience was fully enjoyed. The decor of the home is beyond beautiful top to bottom. I was able to avail myself to anything I needed while I was here – the ‘basics’ of food and wine and the ‘experiential’ of warmth and love within these walls. You both are such an inspiration to me. I now know that this is how I would go live – in a beautifully built home no peaceful property ‘somewhere’ soon (or the other option we discussed).” Burda Vandenborne (photo w/ her son and new daughter-in-law)
Upsize your life ~ Downsize your space for Freedom, Simplicity and Adventure.
We help families downsize for a more meaningful lifestyle. Our family designed and built our own 384 square feet of luxury on wheels to replace the forever 2200 square foot home to become debt free, travel more and grow our family business together. Our motto is: Shrink your house, NOT your dreams.
We are passionate about our work and leaving a legacy. We launched our company in 2016. Our flagship model, The Vintage Retreat, received immediate fame worldwide. Daily Mail, The Sun, New Atlas, and other national and local magazines and companies featured our story and product. Instagram named our house In the “top 10 most popular” tiny homes of 2017.
They are starting to prepare the land right around the corner from where we live. It will be an adorable community of 17 cottages under 1,000 sq ft on just under 2 acres. Prices are $238,500-$262,500. More info here:
“Thank you so much for letting us visit your tiny home! We love the decorations and how you have utilized the space. This was such a fun experience! We will definitely be planning our future tiny home now, thanks again!”
From Todd and Shari: “It’s been a rough year dealing with contractors, land owners and business owners taking advantage of us. We’ve looked at each other many times and said, ‘Is this stress even worth it?’ We don’t mind the stress of the work: of running the business, or building the tiny houses. We love helping our clients get into their dream tiny home. But the bullies of business who manipulate and use you after you put your trust in them and their word make us not want to play in this game. Honestly, it made us want to run away! We don’t have to do this, we can go live a peaceful life on an island in a tiny house and live happily ever after with just our little family.
But then we sit with families like the Moss family and we know that we just can’t give up on them and on their dreams! To be a small part of strengthening the family unit, knowing it will decrease stress in their lives, improve their marriage, and allow them to stay home with their children pushes us onward and forward.
I am so proud of the Moss family. Skyler leads a marketing team for a large global company and works remotely. Nikki has taught school for 13 years. Their decision to downsize and sell their 3,000 sq ft dream home they had custom built for their family just 3 years ago in Katy, Texas, did not come easily.
jamboree, toured 40 plus homes, “Ah, now I can see our family living happily in this one”
When Owen, 3 years old, was told they were going home, he said, “No, I wanna stay here” zoo,
Quality Family Time and Freedom to travel and show their boys different states and scenery.
They love each other and want to give their children the gift of life experiences and memories, not more ‘stuff’!”
We just stayed in the Bohemian Bungalow featured on HGTV for the last 3 nights and now all I can say is WOW!! I have always been obsessed with tiny homes but was not sure if I could live in one and now know we can! Especially one as well-planned as this beauty!! Still thinking about it and how we will make it happen in our future!
Robert & Kim-Houston, Texas!
Todd & Shari have outdone themselves on his home from A to Z!!
“One week ago Clarkston became the first city in Georgia to approve a tiny house neighborhood. The Cottages on Vaughan is the brainchild of the MicroLife Institute nonprofit. Their mission is centered around enabling developments of walkable, sustainable “micro-hood” communities. And that will come to life is this one-of-a-kind tiny home pocket neighborhood, within walking distance to downtown Clarkston and many nearby amenities.” Alexis Stephens, Tiny House Blog contributor
“This project will be a proof of concept for us. There is a lot of interest and movement towards tiny homes and cottage homes, but many developers are hesitant to enter the market. Our hope is that this project will encourage other municipalities and private developers to experiment with new, innovate development paradigms and learn from this great case study”
– Kim Bucciero, MicroLife Institute Co-Founder
“We are proud to partner with the MicroLife Institute on this innovative new approach to housing. We recognize that the past 50 years of urban sprawl has segregated communities, contributed to global warming, and exacerbated housing inequality. By experimenting and innovating with new development ordinances, we are able to allow a greater range of housing options.”
-City of Clarkston Mayor, Ted Terry
The Cottages on Vaughn is coming soon!
“The approval of this project represents a move towards achieving one of the top prioritized in our 2040 comprehensive plan –– increasing stability in our housing market by providing more homeownership opportunities. I hope that other cities will look at our tiny home ordinance and this development and see that it is possible to create a housing landscape that allows for home ownership to come in all shapes and sizes.”
– Jamie Carroll, Clarkston City Councilmember
Welcome to Tiny Town Texas, where dreams are BIG and houses are tiny. We’re Todd and Shari Snyder and we’re pioneering this movement to show Texans that bigger is not always better. The heroes of Tiny Town are likeminded pioneers exchanging the chains of mortgage debt for a life of freedom and simplicity. Do you have the courage to live tiny to make your BIG dreams come true?
Move to your land for a Turn key airbnb, full time dwelling, or instant rental income in your back yard. Or assume lot rent for $510 a month. Great solution for an aging parent or boomerang child!
The Vintage Retreat Tiny House combines whimsical with minimalism to create a romantic design. The farmhouse inspiration was handcrafted by Hill Country Tiny Houses and voted “Best in show” at the National Tiny House Jamboree 2017. It was also in the top 10 most popular tiny houses on Instagram in 2017.
Features:
Custom built 40 foot bumper pull trailer with 4 axles, board and baton siding, and a metal roof
384 sq ft main floor and a 70 sq ft loft
13’6 tall, 102” wide, 20,000 pounds, requires one ton truck to pull
Two mechanical slide outs 9ft slide out holds the sofa and the 7ft slide out in the bedroom holds the murphy bed
8×8 kitchen
8×8 bathroon
10×9 private master bedroom with steel murphy bed
11×8 living room
2×8 master closet
Private first floor master bedroom with a murphy bed that can fit up to a king size bed – this room can easily be converted to an exercise room or office space when the murphy bed is up
Loft bedroom can fit up to a king size bed
2 vintage stained glass windows
2 antique barn doors
Barn wood and ship lap on walls
Barnwood ceiling
White farmhouse sink
Set of french doors and a slider off the master bedroom
2 fold down 6’x6′ decks
48? antique vanity with marble top
Full size jetted tub/shower combo
Hand made movable island with cherry butcher block counter top.
White farm sink
Kitchen Aid dishwasher, Kenmore Elite washer/dryer, 30” Frigidaire refrigerator, electric cooktop and countertop toaster oven.
Mini split AC/Heat model, tankless propane water heater, Sewer hookup, water hook up, propane hookup, black water tank
Standard flush toilet
Black water tank
Closed cell spray foam insulation ($4,000 value)
Space for up to 55” screen TV in living room and 32” TV in bedroom
Loveseat recliner, 1 queen mattress, recliner, barstools, folding table and 2 chairs, 42″ TV, window blinds and curtains, open shelves in the kitchen including IKEA rods/hooks/plant holders
There’s also bathroom shelves, an IKEA closet with lights that turn on when you slide it open, a beautiful chandelier, USB plugs beside the bed, deep storage next to the bed, and a storage space at the back of the tiny house (like a mini garage).
WARNING: the following contains vulnerable content I’ve never shared publicly!
***MULTI UNIT DISCOUNTS & PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNTIES***
SKIP TO P.S. TO READ OUR APPRECIATION FOR YOU!!! (Or you may want to read only the words in bold.)
If you’d like to benefit from Tiny Town as a resident, please submit a Letter of Intent. If you’d like to benefit from the perspective of investor or landowner, we encourage you to text Shari at 830-285-5909 for details to see if
A. your land meets the qualifications or B. if it’s a good fit for both parties. If so, we can partner with you to complete a project or you can hire us to create a turn-key profit making development to your land whether for vacation rentals or full-time dwelling. Throughout history, those who took risks and helped solve very large problems for society reaped huge rewards!
Will you sit on the edge in your own comfort or will you dive in to help solve the housing shortage afflicting our nation, especially millennials and middle aged single women? We have a waiting list of qualified individuals ready to move in!
Our Tiny Town Model not only solves that challenge, but also the need for community and healthy relationships, a place to belong, sustainability, and total wellness for body, soul and spirit. The more people you serve and the better you serve them determines your level of success. Now is a great time to join our mission!
The Hill country of Texas
I’m not gonna lie, we’ve been very discouraged at the many challenges we’ve faced not only as entrepreneurs of a start up company, but as you know, the tiny house industry is a disruptive industry by it’s very nature and trying to build a community presents a whole new set difficulties…
The brave pioneers forging the way do not come out without scars from battle wounds. We get to talk with many leaders in the industry across the nation; each one bearing scars. Like a brave soldier, they keep going. Challenges come from the banking industry and the jurisdiction and zoning of land. Just this week, I sat down with the president of a large Texas bank (a friend of ours). He was very hopeful as they are a creative lender. Still, there are some hurdles to overcome. Our Tiny Town Model solves the problems for our clients and the banks. Yet, finding the right land is the last problem we have to solve. The acreage in Kerrville we had already broken ground and were so excited about, could not be re-zoned to residential.
Our family run business
Our encouragement today came from a private meeting with the president of the Chamber of Commerce in Kerrville. They sought us out and asked for this meeting to discuss affordable housing. They gave us a free $600 membership as well. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is. Together, we will explore working with the city to solve their housing shortage. The pain was already great, but now with 500 new jobs coming to a town of 23,000, they know it has to take top priority. We have such big dreams to create a sustainable community where tiny enthusiasts (including our own family) can live the life of their dreams and achieve total wellness and vibrant healthy relationships.
We promise we will keep you posted.
P.S. We appreciate each one of you from the bottom of our hearts! You are the reason we don’t and won’t give up!! The next generation is the reason we must not quit! The legacy we can all leave is the reason we will prevail TOGETHER!! Fill out the LOI form below if you want to join our mission!!
The tiny home trend is taking off across the nation, but more people in the Austin area are turning to smaller dwellings as a way to combat the area’s affordability issues. Relatively inexpensive, tiny homes can be an ideal alternative to cope with continuing rise in home prices, which have now reached a median price of $322,478 for a single-family residence.
Several communities designed to meet the burgeoning demand for affordable housing are underway in the Austin area. Here’s a look at four local tiny home ‘hoods opening big doors to smaller living.
Village Farm
The Village Farm tiny home community, nestled in the far reaches of East Austin near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Decker Lane, promises the “simple life” in a sustainable setting.
The hub of this so-called “agrihood” is a parcel of farmland. Residents enjoy eco-conscious features such as solar roofs, recycled building materials, composting, water-efficient fixtures, and rainwater harvesting.
Homes cost anywhere from $70,000 to $140,000. In addition, there’s a $600-a-month fee for lot rental. In total, six models measuring 399 square feet each are available. The developer is currently hosting weekly open houses where potential residents can tour homes and check out the neighborhood.
The goal “is to create a community with outdoor movies, walking trails, community barbecues, kennels, laundry facilities, and an amenity center,” according to TinyPortableCedarCabins.com.
